Category: First World War

Howard Burton was born in Walsall, Staffordshire in 1896, the son of William and Annie Burton. At the time of the 1901 census he was living with his family at 29 Rutter Street in Walsall, but by the time hostilities broke out in 1914 he was recorded as residing at 29 Emery Street. On the…

After over two and a half years of bitter fighting, the British finally prevailed over their resilient Boer adversaries in South Africa in 1902. Defeated, the Boers commandos of the Transvaal were asked to sign a pledge that they would adhere to the newly agreed peace terms. Many did, some refused. For those unable to…

On 2 August 2018, it was reported by The Telegraph that the wreck of the Italian submarine Alberto Gugliemotti had been found lying on the seabed by two minesweepers of the Marina Militare. The vessel had been lost for over a century since its sinking in 1917. The Alberto Gugliemotti had been on its way…

The Battle of Jutland – referred to by the Germans as Skagerrakschlacht, or Battle of Skagerrak – was the largest naval engagement of the First World War, fought between the Grand Fleet of the British Royal Navy and the High Seas Fleet of the Imperial German Navy in 1916. There are, of course, no human…

Temporary-Major Stewart Walter Loudoun-Shand of the Yorkshire Regiment was one of nine men to receive the Victoria Cross – Britain’s highest award for valour ‘in the face of the enemy’ – on the first-day of the Battle of the Somme, fought from 1 July to 18 November 1916. Of those nine, only three would survive…

There are numerous myths that have developed about the Battle of Mons, the first major clash between British and German forces on the Western Front during the First World War, since it was fought on 23 August 1914. However, perhaps one of the most well-known is the so-called ‘Angels of Mons’, a myth that quickly…

A total of four Victoria Crosses were awarded for the Battle of Jutland, fought near Denmark on 31 May-1 June 1916. Several of them are well-known, including those to Jack Cornwell of HMS Chester and Francis Harvey of the Royal Marine Light Infantry. However, few today are aware of Commander Loftus Jones and his actions…